A Reader Writes... (Latest School Rankings - Part 2)

In response to the post, “Latest School Rankings,” a reader writes.

“As a stand alone freshman campus, we feel the need to grow kids as fast as possible since we only have a year to see major improvement. The kids we have this year are not as strong academically as the year before, and sixty of our strongest incoming students (academically) were enrolled in a new Early College program, so we'll be missing the strength of their scores as well. Yet, we still must deal with the bar consistently and systematically being raised. The sense of urgency has almost crossed the line and become a sense of fear.

I wonder if the argument of improvement will satisfy the state and community if the standard is not met even though we started with less and had farther to go. Probably not. There will always be diversity in the academic level of incoming classes as a whole, so progress must be dealt with regardless of the starting point. Failure to meet a set standard often does not reflect a lack of growth. But in the eyes of the public, it is taken that the educational system has failed to do its job.”

SC Response
Good post. Let me start with my opening statement to school boards with low performing high schools. The high school cashes the check that every school in the feeder pattern wrote. As I explain to teachers, student success is a relay race. Kindergarten must run their leg of the race at full speed and then pass the baton to first grade. First grade must run their leg at full speed and then pass the baton. This occurs all the way up to graduation. Every grade level that half-steps down stream, exponentially increases the difficulty of the work up-stream. As one LYS principal puts it, the worse case scenario in third grade is that the student is two years behind. The worst case scenario in tenth grade is that the student is nine years behind. In this case, the best the high school can do is become a remediation factory. For the high school to add value, the feeder pattern has to add value. Though a simple concept, this fact escapes most everyone in the system, except the staff that is left holding the bag. My personal pet peeve is the middle school staff that has scale scores drop from 6th to 8th grade and have difficult student populations not count for their accountability, yet act like they are beyond reproach.

But this is just one part of the issue that is impacting your campus. The other problem is the taking the cream of the crop for “elite” programs. This is where a district creates alternative programs for the motivated and affluent, leaving the poor and unprepared for the traditional high school to educate. This was my big issue with the small school movement a couple of years ago (and I’m a huge proponent of smaller schools). The brain trust and policy makers behind the movement seemed much more concerned with saving the students who reminded them of themselves, than actually improving the quality of education for all students. The more I pointed this out, the less interested they became in my expertise.

Now before you think that I’ve gone all soft, that is not the case. As Schmoker, Fullan, Schlecty, Brown, etc. point out, I’ve yet to visit a campus that does leave tons of potential on the table by continuing to engage in ineffective and inefficient practices. And most schools still spend an inordinate amount of energy sorting students instead of teaching them. But unlike our political and social adversaries, I believe that we have the capacity to improve and that public interest is more important than private interest. How’s that for urgency?

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Asks... Staff Urgency

A reader asks,

"SC,

How do you create a sense of urgency in your faculty? If I bring up a serious problem during a meeting I get corrected for being negative, even when I offer a workable solution. It is like “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” at every meeting."

SC Response
I deal with this question on more campuses than you can imagine. Principals struggle with the perceived need to balance reality with staff morale. You know what side I’m on in that discussion. If I have to hide “reality” from my staff, then I have the wrong staff. On the other hand, the need for a “silver” lining is important. There is a difference between being an “underdog” and being the “dead man walking.” One has hope and the other is just playing out the string.

I have a two part strategy for dealing with the situation you describe:

Part 1
1. Confront the brutal facts. If things are bad, let’s not kid ourselves.

2. Determine what is working. Figure out if you can do more of it, or replicate it.

3. Determine what is not working. Figure out how to do less of it, or quit doing it all together.

4. Determine what you are going to do differently, NOW!

Part 2

1. Determine your big annual goal(s).

2. Make the goal(s) concrete and measurable.

3. Work backwards and break the annual goal(s) into short-term (2 to 4 week) measurable performance objectives.

4. Make the goal(s) and objectives both public and prominent.

5. At the benchmark dates (2 to 4 weeks), publicly review progress, celebrate successes, and then refer back to Part 1.

The strategy works. If you want more detail and some ideas on where and how to start (ATTENTION: SHAMELESS PLUG) you can always refer to my book, “Jump Start Your School,” available on Amazon.com.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Late to Start / Quick to Finish

One of the things I coach schools on is the need for “instructional urgency.” I talk about its importance and that I do not see it in well over 95% of the campuses the first time I visit. Yet, most every campus I visit is surprised when I point it out to them. What they have generally done is equate stress with urgent. They are not the same. If fact, as I hope you will see from the example to follow, I believe that a lot of campus stress is caused by the lack of urgency. There are a number of indicators that I use to determine the level of urgency, but here is the easiest one to observe and fix.

Once teachers start teaching, they generally do a good job of keeping the class on task and moving forward. But this creates a blind spot that hides the problem. Slowly and steadily, the start of instruction comes later and later and the end of instruction comes earlier and earlier. This effectively shrinks the instructional day. Take for example a 47 minute Algebra 1 class. If it takes 5 minutes from the tardy bell to start teaching and then 5 minutes before the end of class, everyone starts to clean up, what has been created is a 37 minute Algebra 1 class. This is not an uncommon event.

Take those 10 minutes and multiply them by the typical 8 period day and 80 minutes each day are spent in the classroom either getting ready or shutting down.

80 minutes a day, equals 400 minutes a week. 400 minutes a week, equals 14,400 minutes for an entire school year. Using our 8 period day example, 14,400 minutes is the equivalent of 38 instructional days (about 2 months).

The campuses with a high level of instructional urgency work to capture every usable second. Everyone else just gives away days.

So the question is, no matter what the current academic rating of your campus, what could teachers and students do with an extra 2 months of instruction?

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...